Iran Makes Progress on Enrichment Technology
Diplomats close to the International Atomic Energy Agency today revealed that Iran has begun operating a 10-centrifuge cascade, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Feb. 23).
An agency report on Iran’s activities due to be released to its governing board next week “will confirm that Iran is now running 10 centrifuges ... linked by piping” at Natanz, said one diplomat.
Another diplomat, however, said the cascade cannot enrich uranium to weapon-grade levels, nor is it able to produce large amounts.
One Western diplomat nonetheless expressed alarm at the advancement.
“If Iran is able to master the technology of uranium enrichment ... it would be able to apply that technology to a covert program to manufacture nuclear weapons,” the diplomat said (Agence France-Presse I/Yahoo!News, Feb. 24).
Iran, meanwhile, has offered to provide the agency information on a secret “Green Salt” uranium processing project suspected by U.S. intelligence of having military nuclear applications, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 1).
Two diplomats told AP that a team of agency experts would travel to Tehran this weekend to discuss the issue. The offer appeared to be an effort to head off possible U.N. Security Council action against Iran, according to AP.
An agency report earlier this month expressed concern about the project’s suspected links to tests of high explosives and the design of a missile re-entry vehicle (George Jahn, Associated Press/ABCNews.com, Feb. 23).
Despite recent pledges of cooperation from Iran, some officials expressed doubt.
“I think it is fair to say that Western countries are deeply skeptical that Iran is prepared at this late date to offer the cooperation that the IAEA is requesting,” one Western diplomat told AFP (Agence France-Presse II, Feb. 24).
Meanwhile, the head of the Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency arrived in Tehran yesterday to discuss the crisis, AFP reported.
The visit by Sergei Kiriyenko “offers a new opportunity to pursue the inspection of the Iranian nuclear program in the framework of the IAEA,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (Agence France-Presse III/IranMania.com, Feb. 23).
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Lu Guozheng is also in Tehran for talks on the nuclear standoff, AP reported (Jahn, Associated Press, Feb. 23).
The United States yesterday accused Iran of making contradictory statements regarding its nuclear program, AFP reported.
“There are a lot of statements made by different Iranian officials every day that seem to contradict one another,” said State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli.
Ereli also said Washington has no plans for direct talks with Iran. “We’re comfortable with the approach that we’ve got now, with our close coordination with the EU-3, with the Russians, with the Chinese, with the Indians,” he said (Agence France-Presse IV/IranMania.com, Feb. 23).
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said yesterday that Iran’s brinksmanship is bolstering international opposition to its nuclear program, AFP reported.
“We know, obviously, that they’re trying, as ever, to secure some differences in the international community,” he said.
“I just have to say to those who pay attention to these things in Tehran that so far, their tactics have had the opposite effect from that intended,” he said. “At each stage they thought their tactics would divide the international community. At each stage they’ve actually strengthened the consensus” (Agence France-Presse V/IranMania.com, Feb. 23).
The Crisis Group has recommended that Iran be allowed to develop uranium enrichment in phases if it does not accept Russia’s compromise offer, AFP reported yesterday.
While the Moscow proposal to enrich uranium on Iran’s behalf in Russia is the most attractive option for resolving the standoff, according to the institute, allowing Tehran to phase in enrichment over several years is an acceptable alternative.
In the first proposed phase, Iran would suspend enrichment for up to three years to allow for thorough inspections to ensure its nuclear technology is not used for weapons purposes. During the second phase, Tehran would only perform laboratory enrichment for four years. In the final phase, Iran would begin normal industrial production, preferably in a multinational operation.
“This compromise should be compared neither to the fragile and unsustainable status quo, nor to some idealized, universally comfortable end-state,” said Crisis Group President Gareth Evans.
“The real alternatives to diplomacy are much worse: either rapid descent to a North Korea situation, with an unsupervised nuclear program leading inexorably to nuclear weapons and all their dangerously unpredictable regional consequences; or an Iraq-like preventive military strike, with even more alarming regional and global consequences,” Evans said (Agence France-Presse VI/IranMania.com, Feb. 23).
An agency report on Iran’s activities due to be released to its governing board next week “will confirm that Iran is now running 10 centrifuges ... linked by piping” at Natanz, said one diplomat.
Another diplomat, however, said the cascade cannot enrich uranium to weapon-grade levels, nor is it able to produce large amounts.
One Western diplomat nonetheless expressed alarm at the advancement.
“If Iran is able to master the technology of uranium enrichment ... it would be able to apply that technology to a covert program to manufacture nuclear weapons,” the diplomat said (Agence France-Presse I/Yahoo!News, Feb. 24).
Iran, meanwhile, has offered to provide the agency information on a secret “Green Salt” uranium processing project suspected by U.S. intelligence of having military nuclear applications, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 1).
Two diplomats told AP that a team of agency experts would travel to Tehran this weekend to discuss the issue. The offer appeared to be an effort to head off possible U.N. Security Council action against Iran, according to AP.
An agency report earlier this month expressed concern about the project’s suspected links to tests of high explosives and the design of a missile re-entry vehicle (George Jahn, Associated Press/ABCNews.com, Feb. 23).
Despite recent pledges of cooperation from Iran, some officials expressed doubt.
“I think it is fair to say that Western countries are deeply skeptical that Iran is prepared at this late date to offer the cooperation that the IAEA is requesting,” one Western diplomat told AFP (Agence France-Presse II, Feb. 24).
Meanwhile, the head of the Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency arrived in Tehran yesterday to discuss the crisis, AFP reported.
The visit by Sergei Kiriyenko “offers a new opportunity to pursue the inspection of the Iranian nuclear program in the framework of the IAEA,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (Agence France-Presse III/IranMania.com, Feb. 23).
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Lu Guozheng is also in Tehran for talks on the nuclear standoff, AP reported (Jahn, Associated Press, Feb. 23).
The United States yesterday accused Iran of making contradictory statements regarding its nuclear program, AFP reported.
“There are a lot of statements made by different Iranian officials every day that seem to contradict one another,” said State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli.
Ereli also said Washington has no plans for direct talks with Iran. “We’re comfortable with the approach that we’ve got now, with our close coordination with the EU-3, with the Russians, with the Chinese, with the Indians,” he said (Agence France-Presse IV/IranMania.com, Feb. 23).
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said yesterday that Iran’s brinksmanship is bolstering international opposition to its nuclear program, AFP reported.
“We know, obviously, that they’re trying, as ever, to secure some differences in the international community,” he said.
“I just have to say to those who pay attention to these things in Tehran that so far, their tactics have had the opposite effect from that intended,” he said. “At each stage they thought their tactics would divide the international community. At each stage they’ve actually strengthened the consensus” (Agence France-Presse V/IranMania.com, Feb. 23).
The Crisis Group has recommended that Iran be allowed to develop uranium enrichment in phases if it does not accept Russia’s compromise offer, AFP reported yesterday.
While the Moscow proposal to enrich uranium on Iran’s behalf in Russia is the most attractive option for resolving the standoff, according to the institute, allowing Tehran to phase in enrichment over several years is an acceptable alternative.
In the first proposed phase, Iran would suspend enrichment for up to three years to allow for thorough inspections to ensure its nuclear technology is not used for weapons purposes. During the second phase, Tehran would only perform laboratory enrichment for four years. In the final phase, Iran would begin normal industrial production, preferably in a multinational operation.
“This compromise should be compared neither to the fragile and unsustainable status quo, nor to some idealized, universally comfortable end-state,” said Crisis Group President Gareth Evans.
“The real alternatives to diplomacy are much worse: either rapid descent to a North Korea situation, with an unsupervised nuclear program leading inexorably to nuclear weapons and all their dangerously unpredictable regional consequences; or an Iraq-like preventive military strike, with even more alarming regional and global consequences,” Evans said (Agence France-Presse VI/IranMania.com, Feb. 23).
posted by Marko at 2/24/2006 01:46:00 PM
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